BANGALORE: In another incident of taxi drivers harassing female passengers, an Ola driver reportedly mistreated a 23-year-old fashion design student in his taxi in Bengaluru. The incident took place on Sunday, December 3 at 10:30 am, while the woman was traveling only from Indiranagar in BTM format.
According to the report submitted by the victim, the driver allegedly used the child-resistant lock to keep it in the vehicle before it touched it. The woman started to hit the window of the car to warn people.
Later, the driver unlocked the door and ran for help at the nearest junction.

The taxi driver Ola identified as Rajashekhar Reddy stopped the car on his way to Koramangala. “I was scared because there was no sign of passing vehicles, I could not even see anyone in the area,” said the victim.
The woman reported the incident to the Madiwala Police Station the next morning. T Shiv Kumar, deputy police commissioner, Madiwala said he gave the driver a severe warning.
The woman denied submitting a written complaint and asked the driver to be notified instead.
According to her, the driver did not stop there. He also called her several times the next morning and threatened her with the consequences of complaining to Ola.
“I have not submitted an FIR since I intend to leave the city in a few days, but I registered a complaint with the taxi-aggregator the same evening and they promised to take the necessary measures”, she said.
Ola issued a statement after the director was suspended, stating that customer safety is a priority and that they have no tolerance for such actions.

The victim expressed concern about the growing number of incidents in which taxi drivers misbehave in women. “I think people should be brave enough to report abuse and bad behavior, which is the only way to make sure it does not happen again,” said the 23-year-old fashion designer.

This incident contributes to the number of recent incidents of Ola taxi drivers harassing female passengers:

• In May, a taxi driver from Ola mistreated a 30-year-old professional singer in Bangalore.
• A 38-year-old taxi driver in Mumbai, Arun Matashankar Tiwari, was arrested for assaulting a 31-year-old woman in August.
• In September, a 22-year-old Ola driver was accused of harassing a 25-year-old female passenger in Hyderabad. The driver was identified as a K Shivakumar.